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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30035757">Echo's Answer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyricalWandering/pseuds/LyricalWandering'>LyricalWandering</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Creepypasta - Fandom, Petscop (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dark Past, Flashbacks, Gen, Identity Issues, Paul Leskowitz is Carrie Mark, Paul finds the windmill, Petscop - Freeform, Petscop Episode 9, Repressed Memories, Swearing, Vague References to Abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:42:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30035757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyricalWandering/pseuds/LyricalWandering</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You found her."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Echo's Answer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>While The Family is watching, Paul is starting to struggle.</p><p>A peek behind the scenes of where Paul's mind is during Episode 9 of Petscop. CW for some vague, brief references to physical and psychological abuse!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You found her."</p><p>*</p><p>"...You're kidding me." Paul breathes, the words barely passing through his chapped lips as he stared at the screen before him in sheer disbelief. </p><p>The windmill.</p><p>Somehow it was visible to him, now that he was personified as the "shadow monster man". The game was displaying the windmill in it's original state only because it's coding currently understood and recognized him as Marvin. Even though he was Pall. </p><p>Wait, *Paul*. </p><p>His name was Paul.</p><p>He'd spelled his name right. </p><p>Right?</p><p>He bit down on his bottom lip so hard he thought it might bleed. He'd never been an anxious gamer, even when it came to defeating a tricky boss, or playing psychological horror stuff similar to this. Whatever *this* was, or would turn out to be. </p><p>So why was he so twitchy now?</p><p>(It's not like something's gonna jump-scare me at any given moment...)</p><p>He thinks to himself, holding his tongue back from speaking the words aloud. No need for trouble with the rest of The Family. Not now. After all this.</p><p>(But what IS...this?)</p><p>His palms are sweating. So he rubs them on his torn jeans before continuing, getting a firmer grip on his controller. Taking a deep breath, Paul proceeds forward.</p><p>*</p><p>There's a silence like a blanket suffocating the still air. He's holding his breath. He guides his avatar - nay, *guardian* - forward.</p><p>Inside the windmill there are pieces to collect. </p><p>There's a sign with a face, and a gear box with a purple triangle spinning at an impossible speed. </p><p>A girl's features are painted onto what appears to be a head...they match the face on the sign. </p><p>The spinning is dizzying. What a childish thought.</p><p>But there it is, just the same.</p><p>Paul blinks in the darkness. His room was dark, and the interior of the windmill was yet darker. The girl's face seemed eerily familiar, alive with the darkness and the silence.</p><p>And the deep, primal fear. </p><p>Where had he seen her before? An old photograph perhaps? </p><p>Was this another variation of Care? Care B, at long last? But this wasn't the school...</p><p>He sets his controller down momentarily to reach for his sketchpad, copying a crude wax depiction of the eyes and missing brows. In the back of his mind, he takes note to search for her in the child library later.</p><p>(If there is a "later"...)</p><p>Just as he finishes his sketch, a gleam of white catches his attention. There is a Tool in here. He toggles the joystick to move towards it, prepared to ask "Who?" or "This is Tiara?". Both, probably. </p><p>Whatever would yield him results.</p><p>But the Tool offers no information. Unprompted by any action on his part, after Paul just barely hovers over it's interactive question mark, it begins to move towards the girl's head in slow motion, floating through the air, just as the screen fades to black. Paul's breathing is still on pause. His heartbeat reverberates in his ears. It sounds like the lullaby of the windmill.</p><p>But then the sound of pieces being collected jolts him out of his trance. </p><p>From 231 to 281. </p><p>Pieces. Fragments of a life lost. A life Paul had never known.</p><p>But a story he'd heard at parties and reunions as a child. The story of a a girl and a windmill and a lot of unanswered questions.</p><p>( ... )</p><p>It sends shivers down his spine.</p><p>*</p><p>There's a low humming like something trying to get out. Paul exits and tries to reason out what he should do from here. Shouldn't the game be over by now? Tool had all but shown that the Windmill Girl had died at Marvin's hands. But where she'd gone, or where the windmill had gone for that matter, was still a mystery.</p><p>So he supposed the game couldn't be over yet, then. </p><p>And The Family was watching his every move, watching and observing as he struggled to uncover whatever disturbed mystery one of Them had decided to intricately map out in a fucking PS1 game. But who? What?</p><p>Maybe he already knew.</p><p>*</p><p>"...You may visit her room."</p><p>So it worked then. This really was her. Her room opens up, and the first thing he sees is another version of himself. Or of his avatar, for that matter. Reading some text on the wall. </p><p>Fuck. Shit. What the...</p><p>It finishes and exits. Paul tries to calm down enough to react the way he thinks They would want.</p><p>"...Okay."</p><p>Great job, genius.</p><p>He shakes his head, thoroughly unimpressed with himself before spotting the table to his left. Err, right. Whatever. He commands the game to zoom in. There are no clues there he didn't already have, however. </p><p>A red tool and a miniature windmill. Nothing of stark interest here. He blinks again. Weird.</p><p>This whole game never failed to fuck with him like one big, freaky deja vu. </p><p>Speaking of which, maybe clone him was onto something here. He approaches the note on the wall and goes on to read something truly horrifying, though he can't quite explain *why* it was so.</p><p> </p><p>"...You married her sister, and years later, your friend was reborn as your daughter.<br/>
Your wife won't admit this is true, but I know it, because I found the evidence.<br/>
Your friend never returned with you, and the windmill was gone. I went to see it myself.<br/>
Where is it? What did you do?"<br/>
— Rainer, Newmaker</p><p> </p><p>Rainer...huh. Wait, Rainer? Was that his c-..</p><p>"Newmaker, huh?" Paul mumbles cynically as he shuts off his mic. He won't let Them hear this. They won't know he's scared.</p><p>Evidence? What evidence was there? Marks on his arms to match the laceration on a crooked ankle. The thick feelings of shame and degradation that he knew she deserved. </p><p>(She? Who is "she"?)</p><p>The parallels of two girls...girl...</p><p>"Fuck me." Paul mutters, swallowing hard and looking around the room like someone was there. Watching him. Perhaps They were. </p><p>Perhaps *someone* was.</p><p>He knew he had to keep playing. They wanted him to find it, and maybe...at this point, just maybe...he would.</p><p> </p><p>"Where is it? What did you do?"</p>
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